A Bufflehead arrived!!!

Maybe this little bufflehead heard that we were disappointed at not seeing any of his kind at Sandy Hook over the weekend. It sure was nice of him to drop by to cheer us up. Here's what happened this morning. Chris was downstairs and sounded the alarm when she spotted him. Mike rushed down and we both went out on our dock to see him and photograph him. He swam down to the dam, so we decided to take a walk to get closer to him down there. Of course, in the few minutes it took us to get there we lost him. When we came back home, we didn't see him again either, but Chris did see two American Widgeons. Mike was inside and did not see her frantically waving her arms for him to come out with the camera, so we have no pictures of them. Eventually Mike got on his way to work, and Chris had a little more time before she had to leave. The little guy came back and the sun was better by then, so she was able to get some that really show all his great coloring around his head. He was even here later in the day for a little while when she got back from work. We like the comparison of the pictures for two reason. It shows the distinct size difference between him and the geese and also the difference the lighting can make.

Titmouse and Hawk: misseymarie from Butler, NJ

I finally was able to get a picture of a Titmouse. I have been trying for months but they are usually too quick for me. When we get 4 or 5 at a time, they just carry on in their playful, amusing manner and bring a smile everytime.

The picture of the Hawk is either a Coopers or Sharp-shinned. We have had Hawk visitors a lot lately and I not sure if there is a couple of different ones or I'm taking pictures of the same Hawk and they just look different because of the way the light shines off them. I don't think the light has anything to do with the eye color but I have a couple of pictures and the Hawk has blue eyes and the picture I took today the eyes look yellow. Photo's by misseymarie : ) Butler New Jersey.

Brant at Sandy Hook

It was a nice day today so we decided to go to Sandy Hook. We were hoping to see some migrating bufflehead, but they didn't show. We did see the ruby head of the ruby-headed kinglet but didn't get a picture. We also saw some brant, a small goose.

Wood Ducks: The worst weather brings the best ducks

They're here! It's that time of year again when Chris will get nothing done at home because of these fancy ducks that come by. This morning, Chris decided she better get the binoculars to be sure those weren't just mallards. It was a group of five females and one male wood duck.

Hawk

We're not certain what type of hawk this is. It may be a Cooper's hawk, since we read they have a grey head and wings. But many Cooper's hawk pictures are mostly brown. If this is a Cooper's hawk, I'm not sure what hawk we photographed last week. Our best guess is that this one is mature and the other a juvenile.

Female Ruddy Duck

What's half the size of a mallard and really cute? A ruddy duck. What a sweet little surprise she was to us since we had not seen one of these last fall after we moved in. We had been out on the boat in the afternoon and went down under the bridge. We saw the usual suspects, egret and kingfisher, geese and mallards, but no "special" ducks. When we got back home, we decided we deserved a dip in the Jacuzzi, and that's when we spotted her. We were back to our crazy antics of scurrying about while dripping wet to locate the necessary equipment; binoculars and camera. If it's getting to be "fancy" duck season, we'll have to take our daughter's original advice and keep everything charged up and right by the door.

Different Day, Same Egret

Great Egret

We went out in the boat at dusk and saw quite a few birds. On the way back, Chris spotted an egret hidden by the shore. We watched for a few minutes and saw him catch a few small fish.

Belted Kingfisher Evening

So, what once appeared to be a bird that could not stand us is now a bird that entertained us for an hour or two. There were two kingfishers playing a game of tag or chase and making all kinds of noise. They were oblivious to our presence and to anyone else that walked by the area. What was also entertaining is what we now refer to as the crazy carnivorous pigeon. There was a third bird with them for a while. It was a little larger, a little whiter, and it made dives to the surface of the lake and flew around like the kingfishers. We certainly did not expect it to be a pigeon, but when we got the binoculars, sure enough, it was a crazy carnivorous pigeon. We're not posting that picture; it still just looks like a pigeon.

Cooper's Hawk

Cormorant

A group of three cormorants has returned to feast on the fish of Lake Nelson.

Green Heron

Jeff in Cherry Hill: Oriole and Catbird

Gray Catbird boldly coming close to me to distract me from the fledgling on the ground. I could tell I was getting closer the parents came within about 4 ft of me squawking up a storm. The fledgling did fine.



This was taken June 22 2008. This Oriole was eating the buds on the bush, Only saw it One time.

misseymarie, Butler NJ: European Starlings

This year we had a lot of European Starlings visit our feeders, the variation in colors was quite a sight and worth taking pictures of. It didn't take long for the Starlings to take over our Red Bellied Woodpeckers hole in the tree but the last picture of the Starling and young Red Bellied shows she was going to defend her food supply. Pictures by misseymarie : ) Butler NJ

More Belted Kingfisher Photos

We find it hard not to post kingfisher photos. They have been avoiding us for several months and now don't seem to mind. Last week, the belted kingfisher had his hair slicked back, but today it was up like Don King's.

Swimming Squirrel

We were out in the boat hoping to photograph wood ducks. We didn't see any, but we got some kingfisher photos. On the way back, Chris spotted something swimming across the lake. At first we thought it was a muskrat or even a beaver, but when we got close, we we astonished to see it was a squirrel. It was so far out that it didn't appear to have fallen in from a tree, but looked to be crossing the lake.

Jeff in Cherry Hill: Great Blue Heron that dines at my goldfish pond

Click Photo for Larger Scene

Great Blue Heron that visits in the spring and fall to dine on my goldfish pond.
I have installed a plastic decoy which worked pretty well but have been wiped out twice.

Yellow-Rumped Warbler

Ruby Crowned Kinglet

Belted Kingfisher

We are getting better at kingfisher photos, or he is getting less camera shy. This one was very active fishing today, hitting the water several times with a big splash. Once, it hovered for about 30 seconds flapping its wings like a giant hummingbird.

Contributed Photos

Here are some photos sent in recently.

Hairy Woodpecker and Sparrows
I took this photo a month or so ago, the Hairy Woodpecker stopped by to visit for a couple of days and then moved on, we have lived in Butler for several years and never had a Hairy visit before, the Sparrows are regular visitors. Picture by misseymarie : )

From Jeffery, Cherry Hill NJ

From Kathy

From Monica: Osprey seen on Lake Lackawanna October 4, 2008 in my back yard! M